European Times reporter Huang Guanjie reports from Paris: June 30 is the first round of voting day for the French legislative election. Compared to the EU legislative elections, the people voted more enthusiastically, especially among young voters. Voters of Chinese descent are also enthusiastic about voting, hoping to use their votes to give France a more certain future.
After deciding to dissolve parliament, President Macron has repeatedly spoken out against the far right and the far left, and warned that if the far right or the far left come to power, it will cause "division and civil war". But the results showed that the far-right party National Rally remained the biggest winner in the first round of voting.
At the polling station in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, where Asians are concentrated, the reporter saw voters coming to vote one after another. Although unlike in the 2002 presidential election, when the far right reached the second round, there were many people lining up to vote, but there were significantly more people than in the EU parliamentary election. Pollsters expect turnout to reach at least 65 percent of registered voters, significantly higher than the 39.4 percent recorded in 2022 but lower than the 67.9 percent in the 1997 re-election after the dissolution of the National Assembly. The number and percentage of Asian-American voters who voted could not be specifically counted.
Chen Wenxiong, a former member of France's National Assembly, votes in his constituency. He said that the legislative election is a more important election than the presidential election, because it is related to the national economy and people's livelihood and is closely related to everyone's daily life. A lot of things are at a point of change right now. This change will have a direct impact on our current lives, but also on the future of our future generations. By actively participating in elections, we may be able to influence the course of history.
Zhu Yuanfa, president of the French Political Research Association, completed the vote in the 13th constituency of Paris. He lamented that the main force of Macron's rise in 2017 was the centrists, and of course, Macron also embraced a number of guerrillas and scattered bravely, and was in power for 7 years. On the centrists, Jean-Claude Juncker, former prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the European Commission, aptly admitted: "We all know what to do, but we don't know how to be re-elected once we do." "The axiom of democratic constitutionalism is that the will of the electorate reigns supreme. Often, greedy voters get bored with the incumbent. When they get bored, they turn to other options. The French are even more disgusted with the old and love the new. However, it seems that there is no way to reconcile the rush for quick success with the planning of the country's long-term interests. The future of France is in doubt!
Sun Wenxiong, chairman of the French Sunshine Group, told reporters after the vote that voters in France today will make a choice about their future. For Chinese American voters, it is also a time to use their votes to decide our future destiny.
The reporter found that for Asian American voters, there are left, center, and right voters, including voters who support the far right to come to power. Their reasoning is: the left, the center and the right have already tried, so why not let the far right try it too?
Among the candidates put forward by the various factions, the reporter found that there were also Asian faces among the candidates of the far right. Their proposition is to give the people a "more French France". This may be a sign that the far right, which has been labeled anti-immigrant, is also making a change. It remains to be seen to what extent this change will affect this election.
A Chinese analyst told reporters that the goal of the far right is to elect the president and rush to the presidency in one fell swoop. This legislative election is a litmus test. Now it seems that the far right has a very good chance of winning the legislative elections. Then the next two years will be a critical period for its performance. Since the far right has no experience in governance, their policies are constantly being adjusted. Whether it will be for the sake of the presidential election to maintain some restraint and balance in order to win the support of more voters remains to be seen. Therefore, for the centrists, the right and the left in France, the lost pool of the legislative elections is not the worst. However, it is an indisputable fact that the rise to power of the far right, even if it is not a civil war, as Macron has claimed, is a deep tear in society, due to some irreconcilable contradictions.
Before the elections, the Ministry of the Interior warned that there might be riots after the results were announced. Some Chinese groups have taken to social media to remind everyone to stay safe. During his visit to Paris, the reporter also noticed that in sensitive areas such as stations and squares, the police force has been significantly increased to prevent accidents.
(Editor: Dong Yu)